The Storm

Hurricane season began on the first of June, and with it, talks of a very active season.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA’s, Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook says there is a 70 percent likelihood of 13 to 20 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which 7 to 11 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 3 to 6 major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5; winds of 111 mph or higher).

But one thing the NOAA could never have foreseen was the whirlwind of issues now facing the city of Port Allen.

(You didn’t really think this whole editorial was going to be about the weather, did you?)

In just the past week, we have learned about Port Allen residents’ attempt to get their mayor, Demetric “Deedy” Slaughter, recalled; the mayor’s actions of locking city’s Chief Financial Officer, Audrey McCain, out of the city’s bank account; the mayor’s decision to finally show the budget – with just enough time for the council to vote for it, but hardly enough time to make any amendments to it; and the city’s attorney, Victor Woods Jr., and his decision to resign his position at the end of the month.

You could very easily call it a hurricane of activity that the city of Port Allen has seen in just one week – not even making mention of the past few months.

So what happens when a hurricane is on its way? Do you flee? Do you just hunker down and wait until it’s over?

The flurry of activity coming from Port Allen has caused many residents to stay glued to their local news and newspapers for the latest information.

Many times, people decide to wait for a bad storm to blow over – and I think that’s what many in the city of Port Allen tried to do for several months. They waited to see if the Demetric “Deedy” Slaughter administration would get better.

Many were upset when they heard about Slaughter’s first misstep in office of going to Washington D.C. and supposedly having a meeting with Mary Landrieu – which turned out to be false, according to all reports but Slaughters. People were upset, but they hunkered down.

Many were upset when Audrey McCain was fired as CFO – to later be reinstated after a judge ruled that she was a department head and couldn’t be fired without council consent. They were upset when Ralph Slaughter was hired as Chief-of-Staff.

A lot of people continued to hear about reports of what was going on within the walls of city hall and discuss their displeasure – but they kept waiting.

But there comes a point when a storm gets bad enough where families take action. They board up windows; they buy generators, they got to storm shelters.

Is now the time for action?

Apparently some believe it is – there’s a recall petition making its way throughout Port Allen right now.

I truly hope that the mayor can slow down the whirlwind of negativity flowing through city hall. I still believe that she can, in fact, turn around what many residents are calling one of the worst tenures as mayor they’ve seen.

In order for the city to “move forward” is it has been stated so many times from so many people, the city’s entirety is going to have to work together – including the people in city hall – toward one common goal: making decisions based solely on how it will affect the community.

Stop worrying about your agenda or someone else’s – let’s do what it best for this community.

So what’s best for the community? Will we hunker down and hope the storm gets better, or will we take action?

These are the questions that will be answered in the coming months. Until then, enjoy the storm.